notes d'amour
by maygp
Summary: Marinette wanted to leave with no regrets, so she wrote a letter... and did all she can to not send it out. (Japanese High School/Anime/VN Inspired, but set in Paris). Adrinette.


notes d'amour

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_Disclaimer: The characters and show belong to their respective creator._

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The two students blushed as the crowd of all their friends and classmates cheered around them. Nevertheless, the newly announced couple smiled brightly at them all while shyly holding hands.

"Finally!" a taller boy patted his friend on the shoulder. "It's about time you finally confessed to one another!"

Another girl gleefully bounced up to them, "I know! Now, both of you will graduate with no regrets."

The new couple sheepishly smiled at their friends as they all congratulated their newfound relationship.

However, Marinette was one of the many that stood off to the side — or in her case, sat on the stoop wall of the flower bed — watching the whole ordeal. It was adorable to see them confess the three-year long crush to each other, but something irked her as she heard their companions talking.

"Leaving with no regrets, huh?" she whispered to no one but herself. Her legs swayed, as her heels occasionally met the wall of the flowerbeds.

If only it was that easy for her and her own unrequited — more like, forbidden — love. She threw her head back as she sighed.

Why, oh why, did she have to fall for someone like him?

Her moment of self-pity was interrupted by a light thwack to the back of her head. Hands immediately grasped the tender spot before turning to glare at the source of her pain. However, her fury turned into sheepish embarrassment when she met the eyes of her homeroom teacher, holding a rolled-up stack of papers from the classroom window.

In all her frazzled state, she ended up falling backwards into the flowerbed — closer to him — dirtying her navy uniform.

Her teacher looked down at her unimpressed before sighing, already used to her antics.

"Are you okay, Dupain?" he asked, despite his exasperated tone, she could still hear his concern.

"Fine," she laughed airily, dusting the dirt off her palms and skirt.

"That's good," he smiled, before his face adopted stern annoyance. Marinette gulped. It was a rare sight to see everyone's favorite teacher look so irate. He was usually a happy go lucky guy that every faculty got along with and every student wanted to get on his good side.

Only a select few could achieve the feat of being on this teacher's naughty list. And unfortunately for Marinette, she was one of them.

"You owe me homework, Miss," he glared. "It's unlike you to turn it in so late. A week or two, I can expect that of you. But a whole month?"

He clicked his tongue at the student before shaking his head.

"I know it's your final year, but you can't graduate if I don't have it."

"Sorry," Marinette stared down at the flowers before her. She hated disappointing him. After all, he was the only teacher that ever truly understood her situations. And it made her feel even more guilty that the missing assignments were carefully placed in her book bag — completed and double checked for turning in.

But... she just couldn't bring herself to hand it back to him. Because doing that will symbolize the end of her high school career and everything that belongs with it — including her forbidden infatuation.

Marinette felt another papery tap to her forehead. She flinched as her eyes met her teacher's once more. Yet, she felt herself relax as he slipped on an easygoing smile.

"It's alright, Dupain. I'll extend your personal due date to the end of the day," he said, ruffling her hair.

Marinette could not help but lean just a bit into his large palm. It was one of the things she first noticed about her teacher during her time in detention with him. He would immediately feel guilty for scolding his students, even if he had every right to do so.

Her homeroom teacher took his hand away and walked towards the classroom door.

"Now, I have a meeting to attend and other tasks to deal with," he said as he looked back to her. "But I do expect to see all your assignments by the end of the day."

Marinette nodded vigorously, ignoring the flush on her cheeks. Because he really was so cool — especially when his grin broadened at her confirmation.

"Great! See you later Marinette!"

The door quietly clicked behind him, and he was all too unaware of the state he left his student behind.

Marinette simply stared at the classroom door through the open window, feeling the spring heat bare down at her as blood flooded her cheeks.

"See you later... M. Agreste."

Marinette could really not believe the day she was having. She practically had four mini heart attacks — no _four full-blown _heart attacks all before the final bell had sounded.

Literally, what are the odds that she managed to lose a signed confession to _the M. Agreste_, not once, but _four times_.

It was as if the universe wanted to make her life harder.

After rereading her embarrassing and _cringey_, heartfelt letter, confessing that over their private detention time she had somehow fallen madly in love with him because of his kindness and bad humor. She could barely finish reading it when she got to the part where she was practically begging for M. Agreste to wait for her after she finally turns eighteen and finish some of her schooling.

She squealed into her hands at how humiliating it would be for her homeroom teacher — or anyone for that matter — to read this. And through her panic, thinking that she needed to rewrite it, so as not to sound so desperate and childish, a draft from the open window had caused her folded up letter to fall out of the window and into the tree.

That was her first mini heart attack.

The second occurred when she had fallen out of the tree at the sound of the custodian's voice yelling at her to get out of the damn tree.

And it wasn't even due to her falling, and miraculously not breaking any bones — it was because the custodian had her very letter stuck in their hair.

"Damn Dupain," M. Barbot said, aggressively raking up the leaves that had broken her fall. "Making me have to clean this up again."

"Sorry," she quickly said before bowing, yet, her eyes never left the folded paper with M. Agreste's name on it. "I dropped an assignment out the window, and it landed in the tree," she said aloud, hoping that M. Barbot thought nothing less of it.

"Oh," the custodian shrugged, before turning around to stare up at the tree. "Maybe it's around her somewhere."

Taking the chance as his back was turn, Marinette leapt off from the floor, and snatched the letter from his hair, before running off.

"_Oh, here it was on the ground. Ha ha, thanks for your help, but I better turn it in. Byeee_," Marinette practically vomited the words, as she dashed back into the school, ignoring the frustrated calls of her name.

She sighed in relief as her hand gripped the letter with all her force, and she vowed to never let go of it again.

However, that was before a busy student knocked into her, and her letter just so happened to escape her grasp again. Only this time, the note was carried by the wind towards the closed off swimming pool.

Marinette was practically crying, after racing down to the pool, and trying to climb over the locked gate. But her endeavors were halted by the P.E. coach's whistle.

"Do you want detention, Dupain?" barked M. LeChien, he stood there in a tracksuit, glaring up at her right when she managed to swing a foot over the gate.

"M-My homework!" she said quickly, while pointing at the dirty pool. It had not been clean in over a month, seeing as how swimming season is over, so there were a ton of leaves and trash littered around one soggy piece of paper that looked just like her letter.

"It flew out the second story window, and into here."

M. LeChien stared at her before sighing as he reached for his keys to unlock the gate. "Who else, but you, Dupain."

Marinette couldn't agree more.

Now, she was in another bind because the P. E. teacher won't even let her swim for her confession in the pool. Instead, he used the pool net to grab for it. And she's about to have her third and fourth consecutive heart attack because M. LeChien has the biggest mouth in school. And if he were to see that it was not homework, but a love letter addressed to the most popular homeroom teacher, he would unintentionally spread it to the whole school by asking almost every teacher on how to get Marinette Dupain to not pursue a relationship M. Agreste.

But thank god, that her true letter, with M. Agreste's name and everything, caught her eye, as it waved stuck between some of the decorative bushes around the pool.

She quickly snatched it and waved away her thanks to the P. E. teacher as she ran away, once again.

Now, all Marinette could do was glare at the even more wrinkled letter in her palms.

There were some dirt in the corner, and one of the _e's_ in M. Agreste was smeared, but it was still very readable.

It was almost too late to rewrite the whole thing.

"Maybe, I shouldn't give this to him," Marinette whispered to herself.

"I sincerely hope you're not talking about your homework, Dupain."

She jumped and turned around to see M. Agreste, himself, with his pleasant smile that makes her heart leap.

Before she could answer, he tapped her head again with another stack of paperwork that he held.

"Come on," He nodded to the open classroom. "I still need to grade your work before I go home tonight."

As Marinette reluctantly stepped into her empty homeroom, while M. Agreste settled into his seat at the front, she was instantly hit with a wave of nostalgia and reminded of her alone time with him.

He was so patient with her as she talked about anything to everything to nothing at all.

She even learned a thing or two about him while he used her detention time to tutor her on some of the homework.

They managed to create a few personal jokes about some of her classmates. And it earned her another detention when said classmates did their little quirk and had her disrupting the class with her laughter.

They were both laughing when he watched her again for detention.

"So many memories," she whispered.

"Marinette," M. Agreste gently called out to her, and there he goes again, wearing that easy-going smile with a softer look in his eyes. "Your homework, please."

"Oh yeah," she stuttered, fishing for the small stack of papers in her bag.

_l can't just leave it like this_, she thought. And with all the willpower she mustered, she discretely hid her love letter within the stack of assignments before handing it to him.

Marinette felt a huge weight lift off her shoulders to finally be rid of her feelings for her homeroom teacher.

_He'll know,_ she thought as she gathered her things again to leave the room. _Now I can finally move on without any regrets—_

"Go ahead and take a seat, Dupain. It won't take me long to grade these."

_What._

"...What." Her smile became more tense and she could feel her eyebrow twitch at his words.

"Take a seat, Marinette," he laughed. "I can finish grading these and have it returned to you in ten minutes, tops."

She just about had her fifth heart attack of the day.

"Oh no no no," she waved her hands, fully turning back to his desk, practically on her knees. "That's not necessary. I can just have them mailed to me, or I can see the grades online."

"What's not necessary," Adrien sighed as he brings out a red pen, "is having me wait for month for measly homework. Besides I was going to give you a hundred, anyway. I just want to make sure you have some understanding with the concept. Now _sit_."

He gave a pointed look at her assigned detention seat, and Marinette knew that there was no point arguing with him.

She could practically feel the blood rushing to her cheeks and her eyes wet at the humiliation that he was going to reject her, right in front of her.

"It's just like old times, huh?" Adrien started, quietly marking off some things here and there, but he had not said anything about her mistakes, yet.

"What do you mean?" Marinette questioned, feeling her nerves ebb away. M. Agreste had a knack for making her feel relaxed and comfortable.

"This," he waved his hands around, gesturing between them and the quietness of the classroom, before returning his eyes back to her assignments. "You haven't had detention in a while. I was almost starting to miss you pestering me in my afternoons."

Her heart fluttered at the offhand remark, but she can't help but fall back into her easygoing self.

"You know you'll miss me the most," she rolled her eyes, but eagerly awaited his confirmation.

But he never does give her one. Instead, he laughed and gave that smile she loves so much.

"I'll get used to the peace and quiet," he shrugged, circling her passing grade at the top. "And you'll get used to being out of high school, as well."

Marinette stared at him in shock, but he continued on.

"It's scary, huh?" he said, expecting no reply. "You're leaving a part of yourself behind in this school just to go out and fit yourself into a world outside of this place."

"Yeah," she agreed, and maybe that was why she clung to her love for him — because she was scared of entering a whole new world with a whole new set of problems, without him.

"But you're not the type to back down," her homeroom teacher said, and she hardly noticed that he was getting really close to the love note. "I have complete faith that you will fare better more than I ever did. When you see something, you go for it."

"That means a lot to me, M. Agreste," She almost choked up, feeling invigorated and flattered all at once. "I... I'm really going to miss you."

M. Agreste paused the scratching of his pen to take in the sight of her flushed cheeks and flustered smile.

"Of course," he continued after a short pause. "You're my best—"

But he never finished, and when Marinette looked at the shock and furrowed brows, she saw her unfolded letter in his hands.

_Oh shit._

_How could she have forgotten about the letter._

"You-you don't have to read it," she squeaked, but knowing him, he probably read half of it already.

So, she simply turned away, wishing that she does not have to go through with the pain of a face-to-face rejection. _But she does._

"I know you don't owe me anything, M. Agreste," She bit her lip to keep the humiliated tears at bay. He finally put down her letter, and Marinette could practically _feel_ his pitiful stare. "I'm sorry to put you into this uncomfortable position."

"Marinette," he called out to her. She could hear him rise from his seat to sit on the adjacent desk, but she still could not bring herself to look at him.

"We could just forget about the letter, and I'll be on my way," she tried to play it off with a light laugh. "I just really admire you. That's all it was."

"Marinette," he tried again, but she still refused to look at him. Some tears made its way down her face, and she quickly wiped at them. But a blue handkerchief was brought into view.

She looked to its holder to see M. Agreste with that same smile and slightly red cheeks.

Marinette gently took it from him, never looking away from him, even after he places a hand on top of her head to brush her bangs out of her face and behind her ear. The touch made her shiver at how sweet it was.

"I," he smiled, as his other hand reached for hers.

"I'm going to miss you the most, Marinette."

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_c'est la fin_


End file.
